| Date |
Saturday, March 17, 2018 (4 p.m.) |
| Matchup |
#22 Merrimack (3-2, 1-1 NE10)
#14 Pace (3-1, 0-0 NE10) |
| Venue |
Pace Stadium // Pleasantville, N.Y. |
| Multimedia |
Live Stats // Video |
| Social Media |
@MerrimackWLAX // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The 22
nd-ranked Merrimack College women's lacrosse team will face 14
th-ranked Pace in an important Northeast-10 Conference matchup on the road on Saturday. First whistle from Pace Stadium is set for 4 p.m.
Inside the Series:
- Merrimack owns a 2-1 record all-time against Pace, winning the first two meetings in a series that started in 2015.
- Last spring, Pace pulled away in an eventual 17-5 setback on the road.
- Merrimack posted a 12-9 win on the road in 2016 after a 9-8 victory at home the year prior.
Last Time Out:
- Merrimack had a few early leads and went toe-to-toe with perennial power and defending national champion Adelphi in what was ultimately a respectable 16-10 defeat.
- Merrimack opened up the scoring at the 27:38 mark of the first half as the home side started off strong. The Warriors held three separate leads, answering the first three Adelphi goals of the game before the Panthers drew level with just under 20 minutes left in the half. Adelphi took its first lead (4-3) at the 17:41 mark before Merrimack answered again with 11:35 left in the stanza. They would do so again on the second goal of the first half from sophomore Olivia Colletti to make it a level game at 5-5, but Adelphi scored three unanswered to close out the period and took an 8-5 lead into the midpoint of the contest.
- The Warriors roared out of the locker room and scored the first goal of the second half on the stick of junior Amber Feminella after denying Adelphi of a shot attempt resulting in a shot clock violation. The Panthers answered with three straight goals to take what was their largest lead at the time at 11-6.
- Feminella and Colletti would then net three of the game's next four goals to trim the deficit back to three (12-9) with just under 10 minutes left. The Panthers, however, would close out the contest by scoring four out of the final five goals to deny the upset bid from the Navy and Gold.
Poll Watch:
- Merrimack's schedule features six opponents that are ranked in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) preseason national rankings.
- The Warriors already faced Adelphi (ranked second when they played), Mercy (ranked 12th) and Stonehill (20), and upcoming ranked opponents include Le Moyne (4), New Haven (7) and Pace (14).
'Mack Facts:
- Merrimack's 3-2 start is its best five-game record since the 2011 season; that year, the Warriors finished 12-7 overall.
- Merrimack also earned its first national ranking since late 2012 earlier this week, coming in at No. 22 in the IWLCA weekly poll.
- The NE10's fifth-ranked offense enters Saturday averaging 16.60 goals per game, as the Warriors have posted double-digit goal totals in each of their first four games, doing so for the first time since the 2011 season when they did so in their first eight games of the year.
- Junior Amber Feminella leads Merrimack – and the NE10 – with 21 goals and ranks second overall with 25 points on the season.
- She is one of five Warriors with double-digit scoring figures, closely followed by freshman sensation Haley Bartlett, who has 18 points (15, 3a).
- Twelve different Warriors have found the back of the net at least once this season with all of them having at least one goal.
- Sophomore Olivia Colletti leads the team with 19 draw controls, while sophomore Gretchen Krall and freshman Kelsey Daly has caused a team-most five turnovers.
- Sophomore Tammy Nguyen has started every game in net for Merrimack and owns a .455 save percentage and a 11.00 goals against average (4th/NE10).
Scouting Pace:
- Pace enters Saturday at 3-1 overall with a 2-0 record at home. The Setters are coming off a 22-7 win against Emry-Riddle in Florida and will be playing their first game against a league foe.
- The Setters average over 17 goals per game and allow just under 11 goals per game on defense.
- Casey Gelderman leads the Setters with 17 points on team-high 12 goals and five assists. She is one of three players in double-digit scoring figures.
- She, Courtney Pabst and Stephanie Chadnick all share the team lead with 12 goals while each are over 15 points in scoring on the year.
- Gelderman leads the team with 25 draw controls, while Pabst has 10 ground balls and has caused a team-high nine turnovers.
- Jillian Oross has started all four games in net and owns a 12.01 GAA and a .443 SV%.
Inside the Matchup:
| Merrimack (3-2, 1-1 NE10) |
Category |
#14 Pace (3-1, 0-0 NE10) |
3/6 at #20 Stonehill (W, 18-10)
3/10 vs. #2 Adelphi (L, 16-10) |
Recent Games |
3/10 at #6 Florida Tech (L, 15-10)
3/11 at Embry-Riddle (W, 22-7) |
| 16.60 |
Scoring Offense |
17.75 |
| 11.00 |
Scoring Defense |
10.50 |
| 83-168 (.494) |
Goals-Shot Attempts (Pct.) |
71-145 (.490) |
| 20-43 (46.5) |
Free Positions Made-Att. |
18-30 (.600) |
| 21.40 |
Ground Balls |
21.25 |
| 13.00 |
Draw Controls |
17.00 |
| 14.80 |
Turnovers |
16.00 |
| 7.00 |
Caused Turnovers |
15.00 |
| 79-95 (.832) |
Clears |
49-62 (.790) |
Up Next
Merrimack hosts Southern New Hampshire next Tuesday (March 20) at 7 p.m.
